Yesterday, the Copa America had an interesting outlook in Group C as all four teams were locked on three points, which meant that any of the four could potentially qualify and that was meant to make things very interesting.
Brazil began life without Neymar and they got their first goal from their ‘true leader’ Thiago Silva that fired a sweet volley giving the goalie no chance. The sought-after Roberto Firmino doubled Brazil’s money but Venezuela got one back when Miku scored with a diving header. The climax of the game was pretty intense but Brazil held on and saw off the threat Venezuela posed. Elsewhere, Colombia, for all their attacking talent, put up a shitfest against Peru and had Brazil to thank for helping them qualify. If Venezuela got an equalizer, Ospina and co. would have come back home with tears.
Speaking of Ospina, the Arsenal goalie has been on the news lately, as it’s looking likely that he’d be the person to make way for Petr Cech’s imminent arrival. The goalie arrived for a fee of £3m from OGC Nice last season and he did well to win a starting berth in his first season at England. However, it’s believed that the Gunners are willing to cash in on the Colombian to create some space for Cech. Turkish giants, Fenerbahce, have declared their intentions of swooping for the goalie and according to the Metro, Ospina has agreed personal terms with the club. It is believed that Fenerbahce is willing to play £4m for Ospina’s services and that could be enough to let the Colombian go.
Ospina played 18 Premier League games (20 games in total) and kept eight clean sheets in the competition (10 clean sheets in total). He conceded 11 goals in the league with seven from open play and four from corners. He averaged at least two saves per game with his highest flurry of saves coming in the North London derby against Tottenham. He also averaged a claim success of 93 percent which, in my honest, was a great stat for keeper not really blessed with the height of his peers.
It would be unfortunate to let Ospina go but when you think of the fact that the Golden Glove winner for two seasons ago is about to join the club, you’d have to understand that Wenger is aiming for bigger things this season. Ospina is a great goalie and he deserves to play consistent football and with Cech arrival imminent, Wenger has opted for the option of letting him go instead allow him to rot on the bench. It seems harsh, but it’s a good decision for the player and the club nonetheless.
The argument would be – why isn’t Wojciech Szczesny going the other way instead of Ospina? Szczesny lost his place to Ospina in the course of the season and was relegated to the Cup games but even though he had some questionable performances, we can’t take anything from the fact that this same Szczesny was a Golden Glove winners two seasons ago. He was in amazing form for the team and more times than one, he was the difference between a win and draw. Besides, he’s a homegrown talent and those folks are hard to come by nowadays – just ask Manchester City, that have been on a bidding spree for any English talent available.
I’d follow the Ospina situation closely and we will see how things pan out.
Sayonara.
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